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10 Weeks

So here we are, 10 weeks pregnant and still getting our head around the fact that in March next year we’ll be welcoming a third edition to our family. The new baby will be joining two older brothers, Oli,4 and Dylan, 1 who will continue to be these ages when the baby is born. Seeing a positive pregnancy test was still a shock despite planning and wanting a third baby. I was prompted to grab a test after we had left our holiday early as I wasn’t feeling too great. The signs were all there, the copper taste in the mouth, the tiredness and experiencing nausea in the morning. Upon seeing the positive line appear declaring we were pregnant, I took the second test which was in the pack to confirm that indeed we were pregnant.

Curiosity had the better of us, and we set about trying to figure out how many weeks pregnant we were. Because I had been exclusively breastfeeding our last child, my cycle was yet to return to normal, and I had only experienced one cycle since that last pregnancy. I went out and bought one of those clearblue tests which gives you a rough number of weeks to how pregnant you are; it gave us the result of 3+ weeks which meant we were 5+ weeks pregnant. The next day I booked in to see the Doctor so we could go about the next stages.

Seeing the doctor was a case of confirming the pregnancy, talking about how far gone we were and booking to see the midwife. We were pleased to be seeing the midwife the following week and that we would be seeing the same midwife who delivered our last baby at home for us. Our first midwife appointment was all about filling out our notes with those all important details. I had my blood pressure taken as well as some actual blood tests. I was weighed, and my height was taken, with this, they worked out my BMI. The midwife wasn’t happy with my BMI, and I was classed as underweight which meant I was referred on to the consultant led service.

Since that first midwife appointment, things have not exactly gone to plan which can be the case in pregnancy. But then this is where you call on those who are in a position to advise you to do so. Our first issue came at 8 weeks when I wasn’t feeling very well; I was suffering some lower abdomen pain. I had been experiencing it for a week which I had put down to growing pains. That very day the pain was enough to have me sitting with knees up to my chest not wanting to move. I took the advice of my pregnancy notes which told me to ring the early pregnancy ward to discuss this with them. They told me to take myself along to A&E just to get checked over.

While in A&E I had all my stats took, blood pressure and of course I let them know that I was pregnant and handed my pregnancy notes which I know I must take everywhere with me, over to them. My heart rate was something of a concern to them, and I was hooked up to an ECG to see what was going on. I was told my heart has gone into a rapid rhythm, this to me was both interesting and upsetting at the same time. With my previous pregnancy towards the end, I had developed SVT (Supraventricular Tachycardia) where my heart would suddenly go into a rapid rhythm; I was taught how to control it if it was to happen and thankfully I got away with not needing medication. It left me after the baby was born and it hasn’t been a concern until now where I’m pregnant once more.

Of course, I wasn’t there at A&E because of my heart, but it was good that they picked up on this and it was referred on to my doctor and was noted on my pregnancy notes. Because of the lower abdomen paid I was referred to the gynaecology department who were to explore the cause of this pain. The doctors were lovely, I was hooked up to some fluids, and they discussed what they would do to check all was well with the baby. I was going to have what they call an early scan to rule out that I didn’t have an ectopic pregnancy. Of course hearing, this was upsetting, and it hit us that something could be wrong, the gynaecologist was friendly and explained that he was going to give me a vaginal ultrasound to check the position of the baby.

It’s not as scary as it sounds, they explained this was the best way to see the baby before 12 weeks and would give us a clearer view on the screen and what’s going on inside of me. The first I knew something was going on was when the doctors and the husband starting smiling and even laughing. They had all seen it before I had, but they had seen a heart beating away on the screen. He managed to get it back on screen so I could see for myself my baby right there in its right place, heart beating away. It was a joyous moment and despite him suggesting I grab my phone to take a picture of it, seeing it in my head was more than enough to satisfy me. He confirmed that we were 8 weeks along and that everything was OK with our baby.

That pain was coming from my ovary, he explained to me because of its job and how the egg was released from it, it was left feeling rather fragile after this trauma. He explained it would settle down after a few days and he was right. A couple of days later, that pain had subsided, and I was left with just the other pleasure of pregnancy – the tiredness and sickness.

The tiredness has been an issue since before we were pregnant, I’ve found sneaking in afternoon naps when the baby sleeps or when the husband is home from work to be a great help for the rest of the day. Also eating the right foods and making sure I have plenty of fluids on board I know are a key to combating this side effect of the first trimester. The sickness at first started as nausea but then over time is progressed to where I would find myself running for the toilet morning, day and night. Whoever came up with the term ‘morning sickness’ obviously didn’t experience it any other time of the day.

When it came to the point where I was day 2 without any foods and struggling to keep fluids on board, this was the time I knew I needed to reach out for help from my midwife/doctor. Again my experience of pregnancy showed me that morning sickness could develop into something called Hyperemesis Gradvidarum. I made an appointment with my GP who prescribed me some anti-sickness pills to see if they would help me, and you know what? They’ve done a brilliant job of keeping the sickness at bay, I’ve found myself returning to eating meals and enjoying them. Though if I get a whiff of bacon or chips cooking, then you’ll still find me turning green as I just can’t hack that smell.

We’re now looking ahead and forward to our 12-week scan; it will be nice to see baby again and be able to take away some scan pictures to look at and share with family and friends. We’ve already told the boys about a potential sister or another brother, of course, the 1-year-old knows no different, but for the 4-year-old it’s an exciting prospect knowing he’s going to get another sibling. He’ll be the one who we most look forward to sharing that scan picture with.

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Hi, I'm Emma, I'm a Mum of 3 who is fuelled by copious amounts of gin and is passionate about living a life full of adventure. We are a Family Travel blog with a difference as we often talk about Autism accessibility within our travel adventures.